


A not-so-uneventful Gathering

by Warflower



Series: Cain´s modern murder mysteries [2]
Category: Cain Saga and Godchild
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cain POV, Cain crossdresses for fun, Gen, M/M, Mentions of Child abuse/Murder and teenagers having crushes on adults, Murder Mystery, This story does not contain original characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-21
Updated: 2017-03-21
Packaged: 2018-10-08 21:17:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10396377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Warflower/pseuds/Warflower
Summary: Cain attents a party and makes some friends.Naturally there are casualties.





	

There were up- and downsides to living in the Knightsbridge townhouse. Access to his father´s library for example was an upside, although Cain had already established his own smaller library up in the attic where Riff lived, uncle Neil definitely wasn´t. The old man had taken to occupying the master bedroom, while Merry had moved into Cain´s old chambers, which he graciously gave up in favour of those closest to the stairs which led directly up to the servant quarters Riff had moved into, a fact his uncle had certainly noticed.

Said uncle looked up from his newspaper as Cain traipsed into the dining room. 

-We are attending a function, tomorrow- he greeted his nephew, who having dropped into a chair started serving himself with Riff´s home cooked breakfast, stir fry, not Cain´s favourite but nice and traditionally English. That was another disadvantage, uncle strictly disapproved from sharing meals with your servants, and Riff was, there he was insistent, still a servant.

A function, Cain slumped back into his chair while chewing, old rich person word for party, probably boring, just standing around and talking, no decent music, no hard alcohol, no girls to hook up with. 

Cain sighted, he missed going out, his uncle was a lot stricter than Riff when it came to partying, harder to guilt-trip, too. Hell, it was over a month since he last had sex, which was a long time when you were Cain Hargreaves. 

He looked up from his eggs -Do I have to go? – 

He got one of his uncle´s no nonsense looks -You do. – 

He had known that already. -May I bring Riff? –

-No, you may not. – He had known that too. There was no point in arguing with his uncle, but as he was easy to rile up, especially by mentioning a certain person that had moved in with them, Cain always made sure to argue.

Antagonizing him had quickly grown to be one of Cain´s favourite pastimes. That and playing with Merry, who was just sliding into her chair beside him, quickly shovelling eggs and sausages onto her plate. She had not yet learned to eat slowly, Cain supposed she´d gone hungry from time to time. 

Merry was much more enthusiastic about the upcoming gathering, happily chatting away about what dresses she´d like to wear, Cain smiled at her fondly, his sister was well worth putting up with his uncle for.

 

-But why can´t you come? – Cain whined, he was sat on his bed while Riff was spreading all of his finer clothing out for inspection. -It´s fucking unfair…- 

Riff smiled his indulgent smile, the same smile that had Cain feel safe and warm ever since he spent that night years ago crying in Riff´s room.

-That function is for the upper class only- he said -you should see it for the chance it is, you´ll have to reacquaint yourself with the nobility eventually. – 

-I know- Cain grumbled, he leaned forward taking a closer look at a shirt that had caught his eye, it went well with his black waistcoat and slacks, but more importantly, it was the same deep green his eyes were supposed to be, he smirked, -that one-.

 

The function was the next day so at 5pm sharp both Cain and Mary stood in the foyer dressed to the nines. Merry was a frilly ray of sunshine, all in cream, not quite as dignified as the rest of the party would be, but she would be the youngest anyway and nobody had the heart to tell her to change. Since Riff would stay behind Cain´s mood left much to be desired. 

The Rotterdales´ townhouse was Georgian, about as big as that of the Hargreaves, and it was already teaming with the rich and the powerful. 

-Children- Uncle Neil began, looking at them both in turn -This is an important evening, and not just because Marquis Rotterdale´s wife managed to get elected into that committee, this is an important evening for you, you are today officially joining the British high society, that includes you Cain, because as you are supposedly just returned from America you are to meet the who-is-who of English society and you better make a good impression. – 

-When don´t I? – smirked Cain.

 

-Excuse me? – They were just ascending the stairs to the opened front door, Cain turned. There was a girl, about his own age, maybe slightly younger, long dark hair, black cocktail dress, she was wearing a golden bracelet on her left wrist.

-Yes? - He smiled. She shifted from foot to foot, looking down, embarrassed, 

-My name is Ruby, I´m supposed to meet a friend here, but it seems I´ve lost my invitation. – 

Cain quirked an eyebrow, she was quite pretty, not that he was hoping for a hook-up, for one he usually preferred older girls, but some company would be nice, especially if it displeased his uncle. It was his own fault for forbidding Riff to come along. 

He offered her his arm -Sure-. 

 

It was just as ostentatiously rich as Cain had expected, flower arrangements everywhere, heavy chrystal chandeliers illuminating the entrance area and the grand staircase which Cain led Ruby up towards the ball room on the first floor, they were fashionably late, so the crème de la crème had already arrived, Cain was a little out of the loop, so he didn´t recognise all of them, but whom he did recognize was impressive indeed. 

Emmeline Rotterdale was fending of several admirers, a short blond and a tall redhead seemed especially tenacious, Orlando Dreyfus was serving himself from the Champagne, Claire Ashton was talking to Cassandra Gladstone, Cain swallowed and looked away, after all it was not Lady Claire´s fault what had happened to poor Suzette. 

They made their rounds, charming the rich and beautiful, uncle Neil´s watchful eyes never leaving him, Ruby was still on Cain´s arm, there was no trace of her supposed friend inside, which was just as well, her presence had nothing on Riff´s but it was reassuring nonetheless. 

They had not talked to the Rotterdales yet, when Lady Holland came up to them, Ruby stiffened slightly, looking over to her, she was looking down at her feet, her bangs obscuring the upper half of her face.

They shook hands and introduced themselves, apparently, the born Lady Hollard was the second wife of Lord Holland, whose daughter Elizabeth Cain had occasionally played with, back before his father got really bad. When asked about Lizzie´s whereabouts, she took a good sip from her champagne and explained how Elizabeth had caught a cold going out with her friends -always so scantily dressed, always trying to turn the heads honourable men, no sense of propriety the girls these days- she shook her head and excused herself soon afterwards. If anything, the conversation had Ruby stiffen up even more.

Shortly after this Cain was approached by a frail looking boy his age, once introductions had been made his uncle took Merry to find the hosts, leaving Cain to Chat with Cleo, Ruby had disappeared during the obligatory handshaking.

-Are you looking for somebody? – Cleo asked.

-Yes, Ruby, the girl that accompanied me, she disappeared-

-Do you want to look for her? – The boy seemed slightly dejected, as if he was used to people not wanting to talk to him. That alone made up Cain´s mind to stay and talk.

-No- he reassured -she mentioned she was planning to meet a friend here, she must have seen them. -

Cleo smiled, they got into a conversation afterwards, Orlando Dreyfus younger brother turned out to be quite a good listener, like Cain he loved to read and even when Cain mentioned his collection of poisons, he treated like a hobby like any other. Naturally they exchanged phone numbers, before Cleo was called away by his a little too tipsy brother. 

Apropos tipsy, Cain thought as he saw Mrs Holland popping a pill and downing two consecutive glasses of champagne, she was breathing heavily and had a hunted look to her. Well, it was hardly his business. 

When Cain turned around to find another prospective conversation partner Ruby was there, she was slightly dishevelled and Cain could have sworn that her bracelet which showed half of and Elizabethan coin had switched wrists. It stirred something in Cain´s memory, but he really couldn´t place of what it reminded him. He raised an eyebrow.

She just smiled -Do you want to dance? –

He shrugged at her obviously deflecting from her sudden dis- and reappearance and took her arm, leading her to the dance floor.

Cain had always loved dancing, and although the preferred dancing in clubs he was not untrained in ballroom dancing, Riff had taught him after a lot of pouting and some guilt-tripping. 

Dancing with a girl was different from dancing with Riff but Cain quickly got the hang of it, and before long they were spinning over the dancefloor to quickly for the slow unassuming music, earning stares and getting lost in the melody. He was honestly having more fun than expected.

Of cause, it couldn´t last. 

They had stumbled and were falling into a tall bespectacled man around thirty, when his uncle found them, cutting Cain´s apologies short. His uncle seemed displeased, apparently, he was supposed to talk to the more important of the guests, not waste his time chatting with younger sons or 

-getting into the pants of overambitious social climbers- as his uncle put it. 

Cain really hoped Merry hadn´t paid enough attention to hear that last one as he turned to check on Ruby, but defending her had just turned secondary due to her renewed disappearance, the bespectacled man too was gone. 

He thus was dragged, figuratively by his uncle, literally by Mary who pulled him by his hand, to meet the hosts. 

The Marquis and his wife Lady Rotterdale had dressed to impress, they had to, Cain thought, Lady Rotterdale´s election was their first success after a long chain of failed ventures, the party a desperate attempt to show off a wealth they no longer possessed, which was also the reason why they urged their daughter Emmeline to pursue a relationship with a rich man, if gossip could be believed. Cain was honestly surprised that she had not yet tried to get into his good graces, after all they knew each other from when they were younger.

Ten minutes of idle small talk later Cain managed to say his goodbyes. He looked everywhere around the ballroom, but of Ruby there was no trace. 

-What are you looking for- Merry asked, he had not heard her following him.

-Ruby, she disappeared again- 

-Maybe she went to the bathroom? – Merry suggested.

Cain looked down at her -For over ten minutes? – 

-Okay, it is unlikely, - She took his hand -but let´s check anyways- As always when it came to his sister, he didn´t refuse.

It surprised nobody that she was not in the downstairs bathroom, which most of the guests used, but just to make sure they checked the bathrooms on the upper floors as well. It was in the second floor´s guest room´s bath that they found it.

-It´s a dress, - Merry said.

-It´s her dress – it was, the same black cocktail dress with silver details, Cain picked it up and something else fell to the floor. -And… a wig? – 

-Maybe she´s a secret agent? – Merry´s eyes shone with excitement. 

\- Unlikely – Cain said which didn´t seem to deflate his sister´s good mood -but she´s most definitely got something to hide – 

\- So…- Merry bounced -What are we going to do? - 

Cain eyed the wig, it was dark brown, and the dress was nice. He was feeling mischievous, so he grinned at his sister. -Well, I guess we´ll complicate her plans a little. Merry, stand guard. – 

His sister slipped outside and he locked the door, undressing quickly. There was no way he would fit in those pumps, so he´d just keep his own shoes and hope they would be mistaken for ankle boots, luckily, they were high enough. The dress went wide at the hip which would help hiding that his hips were too slim to pass and he would have to arrange the hair to hide his lack of chest, he grinned, dresses were fun, and if his uncle knew, he would be even more pissed than he would have been had he smuggled Riff along. Speaking of which…

When he was fully dressed, he exited the bathroom, his own clothes tucked beneath his arm. 

-Hey Merry, - She looked up, giggling, it wasn´t as if she´d never seen him in a dress, only she enjoyed the rush of it just as much as he was -I´m going to call Riff, can you take my stuff and wait downstairs at the back entrance, please? –

She nodded, took his clothes and merrily bounced off.

Cain pulled out his phone and dialled Riff.

-Hey, - he purred when the phone was picked up, with Riff there was no such thing as too much flirting, he never got it anyways. 

-Cain, are you okay? Did something happen? – 

-No- He chuckled, leave it to Riff to worry overmuch. – I´m fine, but here´s something going on,- he switched to his pouting voice -and I miss you… Please come by- 

Riff sighted, Cain smirked, pouting worked, always.

He didn´t wait for Riff to reply -Fine, Merry´s waiting for you at the servants´ entrance, see you soon-

He pressed a quick kiss to the screen and hung up. 

 

He decided to return to the ballroom, see if not-Ruby was back there, this proved unnecessary as Cain stopped in his track at the top of the stairs and quickly retreated behind the nearest corner. 

Not-Ruby stood on the half-landing, back to the wall, talking intimately with the tall man they bumped into earlier. Without the wig, she was blonde with fine long hair, her dress now was light blue and playful, she had something of a princess, dreamy. 

Suddenly they became alert, he indicated something at the bottom of the stairs, she nodded, then the man was kissing her, passionately, his body hiding most of her from view. 

Cain heard a short scream, more surprise than anything else, then somebody hurried away from the stairs. He took this as his cue and slipped into a study to the side of the hallway. 

Just in time it seemed, since only a few moments later he heard two steps of footsteps passing the door, not-Ruby and the man, no doubt returning to the bathroom were her clothes and wig no longer waited. 

As soon as there was no more danger of being caught, he hurried downward. And bumped right into somebody tall.

-Ouch- Cain grumbled -I´m sorry- he trailed off.

-No need to apologize, beautiful- The man was maybe twenty, tall but not as tall as Riff, nobody was as tall as Riff. Cain recognized him as one of Emmeline Rotterdale´s admirers from earlier. 

-I´m Oscar, - his grin didn´t indicate to much in terms of intelligence -the son of baron Gabriel, you are very lovely, would you please consider marrying me? – 

Cain gave a coy smile. -We´ll see, you´ll have to convince me you´re worth it first. I only marry men who can entertain me. –

-Entertain you? – He quirked a brow -In what sense? -

Cain looked up at the man though his lashes, he wasn´t particularly short but he wasn´t tall either -Take a guess-

-May I start entertaining you with a dance- he extended his hand. 

-Most certainly- Cain took the proffered hand, allowing Oscar to lead him off.

It was just too easy, the guy had neither noticed that he was no woman, nor did he ask for a name, Cain smirked, no need to lie that way, not that he would have minded.

As they entered the ballroom they had to walk around Lady Holland, who was blocking the way taking another pill and flushing it down with something that was a bit stronger than champagne. Something was visibly very wrong with her, hands trembling and dark circles under her eyes. 

They took to the dance floor and began waltzing, it was nice being spun around again, the big hands on his waist were nice, too, they even got to do some small lifts. When the dance ended, Cain was almost dizzy, giggling he clung to Oscar´s arm as he fetched them something to drink, the evening just got more and more fun. 

From the corner of his eye he saw Ruby in the doorway, things were about to get interesting. 

Oscar returned with two glasses of champagne. -Are you even allowed to drink? – He asked. 

-I´m not eighteen, if that´s what you mean – Cain pretended to take a sip, he didn’t mind alcohol but drinking what a stranger gave him, not a chance.

Any moment now… -Excuse me!? – Ah, there she was.

His most charming smile in place Cain turned to face not-Ruby, the man from before was trailing after her -What is the matter? –

-That is my… - Her eyes went wide as she realised who she was talking to -Cain? –

All his efforts not to start laughing at her disbelieving voice failed when Oscar started coughing and sputtering.

-Wait, wait, wait. – He stuttered. – You´re a guy? – 

Cain pulled himself together and smiled -I never claimed otherwise, - he shrugged, nonchalant -you just assumed. I´m Cain Hargreaves, by the way, nice to meet you–

Oscars blush clashed horribly with his red hair. 

-That he is, and he stole my dress- not-Ruby was visibly enraged.

-And wig- Cain added.

-And wig! –

-Calm down- Making a scene had not been part of Cain´s plans. -Yes, I took your stuff, sorry, but you were obviously sneaking around, so I just wanted to mess with you a little. - 

-Well it´s not particularly funny, I have good reason for sneaking around, as you call it- She looked serious indeed, so Cain refrained from riling her up further, he looked down, her bracelet again catching his eye, he had seen that half coin before, on a necklace, not a bracelet.

-Lizzie? – He asked, searching her face, now that he thought about it the resemblance was uncanny.

Oscar cleared his throat, apparently, he was done gaping. -So, not to interrupt you or something, I mean I know you´re not a woman, but…- He scratched the back of his head -Do you have like …a sister or something? -

-Yes, I have, - his voice was flat -are you planning to marry her now? – Cain eyed him warily.

-Yes. Maybe? - If possible he blushed even further -well I´m a good guy and if she´s anything like you… - he trailed off. 

Cain looked at maybe-Lizzie, maybe-Lizzie looked back, after a second she started giggling, soon Cain joined in. 

-What… Why are you laughing? – Oscar was frantically looking between them. 

Just then Merry arrived with Riff, which only incensed their laughter further. 

Eventually, Cain rung for air, -Oscar, meet Merry-Weather Hargreaves, - He left a dramatic pause -…my sister-.

Oscar blanched immediately, he wordlessly shook Merry´s hand, seemingly stunned speechless.

Cain looked over at Riff who was doing his best not to stare at his bare legs, damn that man and his stupid self-control to hell. 

-And this- He walked over to Riff, raised himself onto his toes and planted a demonstrative kiss on his cheek -is Riff. – 

Riff gave no reaction, he had probably not expected for Cain to kiss him in public, well, they lived together for five years and while Cain usually tried to keep himself back to appropriate displays of affection in private, Riff should certainly know better than to expect the same in public. 

-Now that we´ve all introduced ourselves- Cain turned to Lizzie, leaning into Riff´s side and draping his arm across his shoulders, -Would you be so kind to introduce us to your friend, Lizzie? – 

The bespectacled man stepped forward -My name is Joey Nichols, I work for Miss Hollands father- He laid his hand on maybe-Lizzie´s arm -but I fear you got it wrong. This is not Elizabeth-

Not-Lizzie looked up to Joey for reassurance -I´m Bess-. 

A scream interrupted any further explanation, louder and longer and even more terrified than the one on the stairs, they turned and just a few meters away stood Lady Holland, her eyes mad with fear. From his periphery, Cain saw Bess giving Joey a soft smile. 

The lady turned around unsteadily and stumbled off as quickly as possible, but she was too far gone to even walk a straight line, let alone run, she was looking back as if chased, her face was bloodless as if she´d seen a ghost. They lost sight of her when she almost fell out of the ballroom. 

Seconds after, there was another scream, then a multitude of noise and deadly silence. Lady Holland had fallen down the stairs and broken her neck.

When word reached them of the Lady´s death Cain asked Oscar to go find some cake for Merry and stay with her while she ate it. 

-If you´re still planning to marry my sister, you should better treat her well- he did not quite hit the teasing tone he intended. Oscar, still mortified from earlier went without complaint, Merry went too, complaining loudly that she would never marry someone like Oscar.

 

-Why did you do it? – Cain crossed his arms in front of his chest as he turned on Bess and Joey the moment Oscar and Merry were safely out or hearing range -What did she do? -.

-Why did we do what? – Joey tried to use his height to look intimidating, unsuccessfully, as Riff was still in attendance and towered over him easily. 

Playing dumb, Cain rolled his eyes -Why did you kill her, obviously- 

Bess looked down, eyes swimming full of despair and hatred. -She deserved it. She deserved it for what she did to my sister-

-Lizzie- Cain stated, it was not a question -Why is she not here? What happened? Is she alive? - Cain´s fists clenched. Riff´s arm lifted from Cain´s shoulders only for his hand to start stroking down his back. Lady Holland had been Lizzies step-mother and Riff knew what got to Cain more than anything was parents who hurt their children.

-She was lucky, - Bess said -she´s at the hospital with our mother. That woman won´t hurt her again, we made sure of that. -

The story went thus:

Lady Holland had regularly beaten Lizzie when her father was abroad for business, Joey, who worked for her father had been kind to her and Lizzie, like the teenager she was developed a crush. She even contemplated telling him about the abuse, but Lady Holland had caught onto the girls feelings and started an affair with Joey, who more and more dismissed Lizzie´s problems as a child trying to get attention. 

That was until Lizzie walked in on him and Lady Holland, and when she threatened to tell Lord Holland the Lady struck her, again and again as she chased the girl through the house. Eventually she pushed Lizzie down the stairs and when she didn´t move, ordered Joey to dispose of the body. 

Joey brought her to the nearest hospital. She was unconscious, several bones fractured, but in time she would recover. Her mother was informed and she came to London, bringing Lizzie´s twin sister Bess with her. Bess was livid and wanted to make her sisters tormentor pay, as did Joey, so they devised a plan.

-You killed her by playing Lizzie´s ghost and waiting until it drove her mad-

-We didn´t kill her, - Joey said, matter of fact. -We only scared her a little. She should have known better than to mix Valium with alcohol. –

-Valium and alcohol do mix badly- Riff confirmed.

-Yes, but how many pills did she take? – Cain asked, -Two? That´s how much, four milligrams? Even with alcohol that´s hardly enough-

-What about ten milligrams? – Bess eyes were wicked, this one is smart, Cain thought.

He contemplated it -The daily maximum dose for someone at least semi-used to Valium, add some alcohol and that´s a pretty dangerous mix. I take you exchanged the pills- he addressed Joey, who nodded.

-So, will you tell the police- Bess chin was raised high, for her sister she would willingly go to prison, even if Cain suspected that Joey would confess to being the only one responsible, out of guilt for missing Lizzie´s suffering. 

Cain shook his head -No, the evil step-mother got what she deserved. It is quite a fairy tale ending if you ask me, the princess suffering is ended by her prince, and sister in this case. -

-A fairy tale? – Bess asked disbelieving.

-Of cause, - Cain smile his wicked smile -don´t forget fairy tales are cruel-

 

Joey and Bess slipped away soon enough, leaving through the servant´s entrance, Cain and Riff stayed behind in the ball room. 

The music had been turned off, Cain noted, he would have liked to dance, nonetheless he stepped into Riff´s space and waited for long arms to encircle his waist. He rested his head on Riffs chest.

-In a fairy tale, wouldn´t the prince marry his princess? – Riff´s question was whispered quietly into Cain´s hair.

-Not always- Cain smiled, a real smile not a smirk -Sometimes the prince doesn´t recognize his princess and sees only a child in need, but that´s fine too, he´s there and he cares. That´s what matters. – 

They remained thus, wrapped around each other until Cain´s uncle found them soon afterwards, but not even his anger at Riff´s presence and Cain´s attire could wipe away the soft feeling that had settled in his chest.

**Author's Note:**

> Murder mysteries are fun, hopefully there will be more.


End file.
